Chapter Rules

Guidelines for OWASP Local Chapters

Legal: Local chapters operate independently from the OWASP Foundation, and local chapter leaders are responsible for all aspects of their meetings. Chapters should use the official OWASP Portal (www.owasp.org) and mailing lists for communications, and should not use or display the OWASP logo on other websites. Commercial use of the OWASP name or logo is strictly prohibited.

Charter: Each local chapter agrees to promote and adhere to the general concept of OWASP: to produce free and open unbiased tools and documentation promoting software and application security.

Sponsorship: sponsorship of Local Chapters is allowed. Local chapter sponsors will be recognized on the Chapter homepage and official meeting announcements.

Sponsor Rules: All sponsors must be approved by The OWASP Foundation. No product presentation (containing claims or discussing applicability of a product) may take place at any meeting of a local chapter. Presentations that focus on a problem or set of problems and discuss solution approaches that may refer to or show examples of various products are allowed. Sponsorship shall be in the form of donations to The OWASP Foundation in the name of the local chapter and to provide food / beverages at meeting events.

Chapter Website: Each local chapter will have a webpage on the main OWASP site. Chapters may use the main OWASP logo on this page and any associated pages. See the Washington DC Chapter page for example.

Meetings: Local chapters are autonomous when it comes to meeting location, meeting logistics, and the choice of topics that are to be discussed.

Meeting Minutes: Each meeting held by a local chapter should be documented. This documentation is then released on the OWASP website for the given chapter. This documentation should be in English

Meeting Attendance: Try to involve your local community and the local Software vendors by actively seeking their participations in meetings and on the mailing list of your local chapter.

Meeting Announcements: Local meetings should be scheduled at least quarterly, and announced 2 weeks before their actual date. Local Chapters may announce their meetings on the main OWASP website to ensure a maximum exposure.

Mailing List Moderation: The Local Chapter shall appoint a moderator for the local mailing list. The moderator(s) need to ensure that the discussions stay on topic with a suitable tone of voice for an official OWASP mailing list.

Mailing List Languages: Consider urging your subscribers of the local chapter's mailing list to accept posting in the local tongue as well as English. This way people not capable of the local tongue are able to read the archives of a local chapter.